


Two Heads Are Better Than One

by lionwolves



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack, Eleven plays Matchmaker, F/M, Fix-It, Post-Episode: s09e12 Hell Bent, comedic, somewhat ooc, two doctors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21707623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionwolves/pseuds/lionwolves
Summary: Sequel toTwo Doctors Are Better Than Onein which Eleven and Twelve both accidentally show up for a date with River, but you don’t have to read that one. In this one, the two doctors are still together solving a crisis on a planet after the events of that fic.
Relationships: Twelfth Doctor/Clara Oswin Oswald
Kudos: 24





	Two Heads Are Better Than One

“I have another question.”

Twelve sighs, stopping in the middle of the forest that he and his previous regeneration are currently trekking through in pursuit of a creature terrorizing the locals. “Of course you do.”

“I know you don’t remember her, but do you have any idea _how_ you lost her?” Eleven asks. 

“I can remember the circumstances, our adventures together, but I can’t remember her. She’s gone from those memories.”

  
Eleven nods. 

“There was a trapstreet, and a raven. I think she died, and then I got her back, somehow,” Twelve begins. “And I must’ve tried to wipe her memory of me, and that’s when she turned it on me.” 

“You got her back from dying?”

“I think I loved her,” Twelve muses. “Do you?”

“I don’t think I know her that well yet, but you probably do by now, or did,” Eleven admits. “But it’s not too hard to imagine.”

“I think that’s why I did it. Got her back. Because I loved her. I think I went too far. I went mad... for her. Maybe that’s why she...” Twelve trails off in thought. 

Eleven looks at him with concern. “If you got her back from dying, and you don’t remember what happened, then maybe she’s still out there. Somewhere. Alive.” 

“We were on Gallifrey,” Twelve says as if he just realized it. 

Eleven’s face lights up. “Gallifrey? So we  did save it?” 

“Yes,” Twelve replies in a tone that doesn’t match Eleven’s excitement. “They trapped me in my confession dial. I was there for 4 billion years. I think it’s all to do with Clara.”

“Blimey. 4 billion years. Maybe you really do love her.”

Twelve doesn’t respond to that.

“Do you think she’s still there? On Gallifrey?” Eleven inquires. 

“I hope not. I fear what they’d do to her.”

“She has to be somewhere,” Eleven says assuredly. “Hey. Maybe I can help you find her!” 

Twelve raises an eyebrow. “Two of us? We’re already risking it being together now. Imagine what damage we’ll do trying to find a woman that I‘m quite certain should be dead.” 

“The universe will sustain until we’re done, and then I’ll go back to my own timestream and it’ll all be fine. Hopefully, you’ll have your memory and Clara back and I’ll go back to mine.” 

“That’s a horrible idea,” Twelve answers. “Let’s do it.”

A large growl erupts from deeper into the forest.

The doctors look at each other. 

“But first, this.” 

***

“What’s that?” Eleven asks, looking across the arid land of the planet they had landed on. 

“What?” Twelve asks. 

“It looks like a diner.”

Twelve looks up. “A 1950s diner? I’ve been seeing that everywhere.” 

“And you didn’t think anything was odd about seeing a 1950s diner on planets that it shouldn’t be on?” Eleven questions. 

“I just thought I was going mad,” Twelve answers with a shrug. 

“We can’t both be going mad.”

“Yes, we can. We’re the same person!”

“You know what I mean!” Eleven argues. 

Twelve turns away from him and looks back to where the diner once stood. “It’s gone.”

“You said you’ve seen it before? A moving diner? A traveling diner?” Eleven thinks aloud until he has an epiphany. “Oh!” 

Before Twelve can ask him, Eleven dashes back into what is now Twelve’s TARDIS.

“What?!” Twelve asks, following his former self into his TARDIS. 

“A traveling diner. Diners don’t travel, but what can travel and look like anything because it has a chameleon circuit?”

“A TARDIS!” Twelve exclaims.

“Bingo!” Eleven replies excitedly.

“You think it’s a TARDIS?”

“It has to be. If you eliminate the possibility that we’re both going mad and consider that you keep seeing it, now we’ve both seen it, only for it to disappear quickly. What else could it be?” Eleven explains.

“Why would I be seeing it everywhere? Unless the Timelords have been tracking me since I left Gallifrey,” Twelve considers.

“Under the guise of a 1950s diner from Earth?”

“No, it’s a bit on the nose, isn’t it?” Twelve asks. “Who else, then? The Master?”

“How? I thought the Master was dead,” Eleven says. “The last time we saw him he was going back to Gallifrey, but if we saved Gallifrey, then...” 

Twelve shakes his head. “The Master isn’t dead. I’ve seen her twice since then.”

“Her?”

“The Master is a woman now. Calls herself Missy,” Twelve explains. 

Eleven stares at him for a moment. “Right... well I wasn’t actually thinking of the Master.”

“Then who?”

“Clara!” 

“Clara?”

“You said you were on Gallifrey. If she was still there, possibly in danger, she’s clever. She could’ve stolen a TARDIS and escaped,” Eleven hypothesizes. 

“I wish I could say that’s something she would do, but I wouldn’t know,” Twelve tells him. 

“We can find out. It’s a TARDIS, so we can track it!” Eleven says, turning to start utilizing the scanner. 

“But let’s say we do find the diner and it is Clara, my memories aren’t going to return simply because I see her again. I could’ve seen her already for all I know.”

“That’s true. We’ll have to figure something out for that. Two heads are better than one, eh?”

“Same head,” Twelve mumbles.

***

“What we need to do is reverse the effects of the memory wipe.”

“I don’t see how. Even if we had the device, it couldn’t just... miraculously restore the memories to my head. They’re gone. It’s not stored somewhere else. It’s not like the fob watch,” Twelve responds.

Eleven sighs. “We could try using my memories of Clara now.”

“What if that backfires and you lose your own memories of Clara?”

Eleven frowns at his future self. “You’re really not the most optimistic, are you?” 

“Realistic,” Twelve corrects. “Even if it works, I’ll only have your memories of Clara up until that point!” 

“It’s better than nothing. Look, at least, it may re-activate your later memories of her. Perhaps it can fill in the gaps,” Eleven responds, hopefully. 

Twelve begins to say something in disagreement before Eleven interrupts him.

“We’re grasping at straws here, I know! But we have to try something... without resorting to returning to Gallifrey,” Eleven tells him.

Twelve cringes. “Wait. You don’t still do that thing where you headbutt people to transfer memories, do you?” 

Eleven clears his throat. “Well, I don’t... have to...” He reaches out to touch Twelve’s temples, and Twelve moves back.

“The universe isn’t going to implode because we touch.” 

Relenting, Twelve allows him to place his hands on either sides of his temples and create a psychic link. 

Eleven begins to transfer his own memories of Clara to Twelve, and hopes that it will fill in the blanks in his later memories. 

When he pulls away, Twelve gasps and takes a moment to process the memory transfer.

Eleven grabs onto his future self, worried that he might collapse. “It’s alright, just give it a moment.” 

“I’m fine! I’m—“ Twelve says before he intakes a breath and looks up into Eleven’s eyes. “I remember. All of it.”

“Yes!” Eleven exclaims in glee. “We did it!” 

“Let’s go find her.”

“Geronimo!” 

***

Once they successfully track down the diner, or rather the TARDIS disguised as a diner, the two doctors enter the doors.

Twelve feels his throat go dry as soon as he sees her. “Clara.”

“Doctor?” Clara asks, before she sees Eleven next to him. “Doctor?!”

“Hello, Clara,” Eleven greets.

“What— How are you two together?” Clara asks, looking between them. “And how do you remember me?” 

“That’s a long story, we ended up in the same place by accident, but he told me what happened, that he had forgotten you, and I couldn’t stand to leave without trying to help him find you again and get his memories back somehow,” Eleven tells her. “So I did. I used my current memories of you to help fill in the gaps of his memory.”

Clara smiles at him. “You did?” 

Eleven nods. “Yes, I had to. He needs you, Clara. He...  _loves_ you.”

To Twelve’s surprise, Clara’s first reaction is to hug Eleven. “Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.”

Once Clara pulls away from Eleven, she moves closer to Twelve and practically collapses into his arms. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her in tightly, breathing in her scent.

“Sweet,” Eleven says. “Looks like my work here is done!”

Clara pulls back slightly to look Twelve in the eyes. “What he said...”

“Yes.”

Clara stands on her tippy toes to kiss him before Twelve gets the idea and leans down to meet her lips. 

They savor the moment for as long as they can before Clara’s face drops.

“What is it?” Twelve asks her.

“If only I weren’t still dying.” 

“We’ll just have to do something about that too, won’t we?” Twelve says, looking over at Eleven. “Turns out two heads really are better than one.”

“I told you!” Eleven replies. 

Twelve shakes his head and returns his gaze to Clara. “We’ll figure it out, and then I’m never letting anything happen to you again. I can’t lose you again, Clara. I _won’t_.” 

Clara places her hand on the side of Twelve’s face. “I know.”

“I suppose anything is possible today, isn’t it?” Eleven asks.

“Yes,” Twelve agrees. “It is.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t take this seriously. This is definitely meant to be more of a funny fic than anything, as the explanations for the way the problems are solved are very convenient! I just thought it would be a cute idea if Eleven, upon learning how things ended between Twelve and Clara, sort of plays matchmaker in helping his future self find her again. I hope y’all enjoy it either way.


End file.
